中國推遲向馬來西亞租借大熊貓

Malaysia appears to be discovering the limits of China's panda diplomacy as the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 rumbles on.

1月27日，吉隆坡，馬來西亞國家動物園，一名女子走出一家售賣熊貓樣式帽子及各種紀念品的商店。在馬來西亞航空(Malaysia Airlines)失聯370航班搜索工作仍在持續之際，馬來西亞似乎觸及了中國“熊貓外交”的底線，

Beijing has made a point of lending out pairs of pandas to various countries around the world to help develop both diplomatic ties and fuzzier, if not furrier, bonds of friendship. The practice dates back to the 7 century, when Empress Wu Zetian delivered a pair of pandas to the emperor of Japan. Today, Chinese-born pandas reside in locales as far-flung as San Diego, Edinburgh and Chiang Mai.

中國非常看重向其他國家出借大熊貓的工作；在中國看來，此舉不僅可以幫助發展外交關係，還有利於增進雙邊友誼。這一外交手段可追溯至公元七世紀，當時中國唐朝的女皇帝武則天將一對大熊貓贈予了日本天皇。時至今日，無論是在聖地亞哥、愛丁堡，還是清邁，全球很多國家和地區都可以見到中國大熊貓的身影。

Malaysia hoped to receive a pair of pandas this Month. The bears, Feng Yi and Fu Wa, are scheduled to be on loan to Malaysia for 10 years and preparations were already being made to house them at a special $7.7 million complex at the national zoo, some 50 kilometers from the capital Kuala Lumpur.

馬來西亞原本希望本月就可以迎來一對大熊貓貴客“鳳儀”和“福娃”，此次出借的期限爲10年。馬來西亞方面已經專門撥款770萬美元在該國的國家動物園爲大熊貓修建了棲息居所，該動物園距首都吉隆坡約50公里。

But strained relations over the search for Flight 370, which disappeared on March 8 on a seemingly routine flight to Beijing, seem to have put paid to the plan, at least for now. G. Palanivel, Malaysia's natural resources and environment minister, said the arrival of the pandas had been postponed as a mark of respect for the feelings of family members of passengers on the missing plane as the search for it continues in the southern Indian Ocean.

但因370航班搜索工作而導致的中馬關係緊張狀態似乎已令這一熊貓出借計劃擱淺，至少目前來看是這樣。3月8日，這架從吉隆坡起飛的普通航班在飛往北京的途中消失。馬來西亞自然資源和環境部長帕拉尼韋爾(G. Palanivel)表示，在南印度洋的搜索工作仍在繼續的情況下，爲尊重失聯航班乘客家屬的感受，大熊貓的移交工作已被推遲。

More than 150 of the 239 people on board Flight 370 are Chinese nationals, and Beijing at times has angrily complained about Malaysia's handling of the search and recovery effort. In one harrowing incident, relatives of Chinese passengers were dragged howling from a Malaysian government press conference as they sought out answers as to what happened to the plane.

在馬航370航班上的239人中，有超過150人爲中國公民，中國政府已數次就馬來西亞對該航班搜救工作的處理表達了不滿。曾發生過頗爲令人揪心的一幕：在一次馬來西亞政府舉行的新聞發佈會上，由於失聯航班中國乘客的家屬向馬方官員追問該航班失聯真相，馬方工作人員不顧部分家屬的哭喊將他們架出發佈會現場。

Malaysian officials have said some delays were inevitable because they wanted to verify and corroborate information before releasing it and they're doing all they care to care for the families of the passengers.

馬來西亞官員已表示，由於他們需要在信息發佈前對信息進行覈實和確認，出現一些延誤在所難免，並稱，他們正竭盡全力爲乘客家屬提供照顧。

'During this difficult time, it seems inappropriate to arrange for the sending off and arrival of the pandas in Malaysia,' the Associated Press reported Mr. Palanivel as saying Friday. He did say, however, that the bears are expected to arrive in Malaysia before May 31, when the two countries are scheduled to celebrate their 40 anniversary of diplomatic ties.

美聯社(Associated Press)週五援引帕拉尼韋爾的話稱，在當前這樣困難的局勢下，似乎不太適宜安排將熊貓運送到馬來西亞的事宜。不過他也表示，預計熊貓將在5月31日之前運至馬來西亞，中國和馬來西亞已安排屆時就兩國建交40週年舉行慶祝活動。

Officials at China's embassy in Kuala Lumpur couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

記者未能立即採訪到駐吉隆坡中國大使館的官員就此置評。